


Sunlight on the River

by derwentian



Category: Dishonored (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Quiet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-12
Updated: 2015-09-12
Packaged: 2018-04-20 07:40:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 592
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4779071
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/derwentian/pseuds/derwentian
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A man in his twilight watches the sunrise.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sunlight on the River

Early to bed, early to rise, so the saying goes. Folks these days don’t seem to subscribe to such mindsets anymore, but Samuel still sees the value of getting up in time to watch the sunrise. The view is especially pleasant out behind the pub, where the sky and river compete to own the most colorful visage in the earliest hours of the day. 

And view the sunrise he does, stretching on the riverbank and warily eyeing a cluster of dark clouds looming on the horizon. Havelock gets nervous when it rains; calls off the Loyalists’ work for the day and sulks in the pub until the sour weather passes. Wallace says it reminds the admiral of storms he braved at sea or some such nonsense. Samuel doesn’t have the heart to tell him that storms are the least of the navy’s problems.

Samuel yawns and rolls his shoulders, watching the ripples of the river. The river may be cold and murky and full of hagfish (among other things), but it’s his river, and he knows every inch of it. The other Loyalists will undoubtedly be sending Corvo (and, by extension, himself) off on some mission as soon as he’s up, so the silent hours of dawn are Samuel’s only chance to sit around and think without having to stay on constant alert, always listening for the raucous voices and heavy feet of the City Watch.

As if conjured up by the thought, a set of light, cautious footsteps sounds out from near the pub. Samuel knows without looking that it’s either Corvo or Emily; the others all plod around as though their shoes were lined with lead, especially Havelock. He keeps staring out over the water, acting like he didn’t hear anything. Both Corvo and Emily like to think no one hears them coming, and he’ll gladly oblige if it earns him a few more minutes of solitude while they skulk around. The footsteps pause for a moment, then turn into a rhythmic pitter-patter that betrays their owner to be Emily. It has to be her. Corvo never skips. He would probably take offense to the idea. With that mystery solved, Samuel chances a glance toward the pub just in time to see Emily headed toward him with the kind of energy she only has ‘before the boring old adults wake up and ruin her fun’. (Apparently he doesn’t count as a boring old adult. He’s fairly certain he should take that as a compliment.) 

Emily draws to a halt beside him, standing prim and proper with her hands behind her back. He can feel her looking at him, but his gaze stays on the river for now. He never had the heart to be the person who breaks the silence of dawn. It felt disrespectful somehow. Her gaze follows his after a moment, and she scans the water quizzically. The first words of the day are a simple question. “What are you looking at?” Apparently Emily’s curiosity won over her respect for quiet moments. (Admittedly, she doesn’t have as much of that as some people would like.) Samuel glances in her direction before responding. “I’m watching the sunrise. It’s something we old folk do from time to time. Gives us time to think about things.”

“Oh.” Emily almost sounds disappointed. There’s a moment of silence before she speaks again. “Can I watch the sunrise too?” Samuel taps his chin, pretending to mull it over. “Well, you’re not exactly elderly, but I think we can let it slide just this once.”


End file.
